Touch of Fate
by Violetvixen17
Summary: Puck suddenly can see someone's future just with a touch...what happens when he touches Kurt? The flash he sees changes both lives forever.
1. Chapter 1

Puck had made a lot of bad decisions in his life. You name it, and he'd probably done it. His list was long and varied, including everything from cougar prowling to his ATM disaster which had ended him up in juvenile hall. Some things he regretted momentarily, while others tore him up inside at night. This past year he'd tried to stop making so many bad choices and think more about his actions. Losing the chance to get to know his daughter, and getting a taste of exactly where a life of crime would lead him had sobered Puck more than he would ever admit. And as much as he loved his reputation of being the school's resident badass, he was much more careful about how he kept up that image nowadays.

But in a weak moment, trying to prove that he still had what it took to be classified as a thug, he'd accepted this dare. He'd had a sinking feeling when he'd gotten into the argument with Azimio that this was a supremely bad idea…but what he hadn't realized was that THIS bad idea would be the one that would change his life forever.

It seemed harmless compared to other things he'd done on dares, just walk over to the new electric fence that Coach Sylvester had installed around her Cheerio's rehearsal field (to keep people from walking their dogs on her pristinely green grass of course)...and grab the wires for a count of ten seconds. It had seemed so easy that Puck had laughingly accepted, claiming that a little shock was nothing compared to his litany of crazy stunts.

The rest of the jocks had seemed eager enough to see Puck back in action, and followed, placing bets on how long he could last holding on. As they'd neared the field, he added his own five dollar bill to the pot and smirked to himself that keeping his rep could be this easy. A little shock….it would be over in a few seconds, and he'd be 50 bucks richer, and be able to say he was still the toughest badass at McKinley high.

Once they reached the fence, Puck could hear the hum of the current juicing through the wires and suddenly this dare longer seemed the easy feat he'd perceived it to be. But he didn't have much time to reconsider as the jocks started counting down, and he reached out, readying himself for the shock. He'd been shocked a few times before, and he braced himself as his fists grabbed the live wire.

There was a snapping sound.

A flash of white hot light…..

The sound of someone screaming….

Then nothing.

*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*

"Wake up! Puck!" The sound Mr. Shue's voice suddenly sliced through the silent black and Puck groaned as he came to. As he winced at the light, Puck saw the concerned face of his Spanish teacher leaning over, the sky behind him darker than he remembered. He wondered just how long those idiots had let him lay there before going for help.

"Hey Mr. Shue." Puck grumbled, struggling to sit up. As his palms made contact with the ground, a loud cry ripped out of him at the sensation. It felt like he'd stuck his hands into a vat of razorblades, he immediately yanked his palms up and stared down at the ground, expecting to see knives or broken glass. But there was nothing except the dry grass where he'd fallen.

"Are you all right? What are you doing out here on the ground Puck?" The older man crouched down now, a concerned look creasing his brow. The way the teacher was looking at him, Puck began to wonder if he'd bashed up his face when he fell. He groaned and rolled his eyes, just what he needed ….a physical reminder of his faint. Like him passing out wasn't going to be hard enough to live down.

"Puck! Are you going to answer me?" The teacher's voice was getting louder now and slightly annoyed. Puck sighed, he actually liked Mr. Shue, as he wasn't too bad of a guy as teachers went and he didn't' really want to have the guy mad at him on top of everything else.

"They dared me…." He started and flicked his gaze toward the fence that he could still hear humming with current.

Puck saw as the pieces fell into place and Mr. Shue put them together in his head.

"To grab Sue's new fencing? What the heck were you doing Puckerman? Trying to get yourself killed? On a DARE of all things!" Mr. Shue shot to his feet, his hands going to his hair in disbelief.

"I know I know…but I thought it wouldn't be so bad…I've grabbed fences like that before… and I…." Puck tried to downplay the stupidity of the whole scenario, but his voice trailed off as he saw that the older man clearly wasn't buying it.

" Sue probably has that thing hooked up to some giant industrial strength generator, knowing her. You're lucky it didn't fry you to a crisp PUCKERMAN!" His voice went up an octave in frustration and Puck shrugged.

The older man paced once more then looked back down and realized that Puck was still sitting on the ground. He reached out a hand to help him up. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Puck nodded, anxious for the whole crazy afternoon to be over and took the hand that was extended to him.

Two things happened as his palm connected with the other man's. The first was that Puck felt a faint shock, only a mere echo of the one he'd experienced when he'd grabbed the live wire. He tensed up and gritted his teeth as the hum spiked through his veins. As he winced and closed his eyes, flashes of images flew by. So fast they almost didn't make sense. But a few were clear...an image of Mr. Shue's car with a window broken out of it….Shue kissing Ms. Pillbury…..a wedding….the teacher holding a pink bundle in his arms…..Shue slightly older, chasing two little girls around a lawn…little girls with red curls that bounced on their shoulders…. The images kept coming, but so did the tense shock that he was feeling in his muscles… and Puck did the only thing he could think of to make it all stop.

He let go.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt? Maybe I should take you down to Lima memorial instead of home." He heard the teacher speaking but he was too wrapped up in what had just happened.

_What the hell had just happened to him?_


	2. Chapter 2

Puck grumbled and groaned through the next two and a half hours in the hospital. At first he'd been terrified to let the doctors or nurses touch him, after the weird hallucination he'd had about his teacher. But as the doctor examined his hands and nothing out of the ordinary happened Puck began to chalk the whole vision up to a side effect of having too much electricity running through his brain. And soon he was back to himself, shrugging off the doctors lecture about the dangers of electricity and complaining about being discharged so he could go eat dinner.

Finally, Mr. Shue dropped him off at home and Puck thanked the teacher for his concern before trotting inside to see if his mom had brought anything home. In the kitchen he found his sister at the table, doing homework and munching a slice of pizza. She nodded at him, unable to hear over the music blaring from her headphones and smiled as she pointed at the pizza box on the stove. Puck downed a few pieces then headed for his room. His body felt like he'd run a couple miles and he remembered the doctor telling him to take it easy due to the shock his muscles had experienced.

As he crashed on his bed and kicked off his sneakers, he let his eyes wander over to the small picture on his nightstand. It was a new fixture in his room as of late; A photo of a cute baby girl with blond curls and his own eyes. It had been a gift from Shelby, who'd been kind enough to allow him to have a role in his daughters' life. He smiled fondly at the baby in the photo, her face so much like Quinn's. He was thankful that Shelby had turned out to be a caring mom and took such good care of his child. It was the best outcome he could have hoped for, that his daughter would have better than he'd had.

Sleep quickly claimed Puck that night, but as he began to lose himself to the darkness in his room, his vision haunted him. It had been so clear, so damn vivid that it stuck with him and something deep in his mind whispered that whatever had begun this day was a long way from being over.

Puck had almost succeeded in putting the whole incident behind him by the time he got to McKinley's parking lot the following morning. Hopping out of his truck and skimming a hand over his Mohawk that was starting to grow out, he put on his best badass face and strolled toward the main building. He would have been fine. Everything would have been forgotten….if it had not been for what happened next.

As Puck walked by the hockey team, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye that caused him to turn. Two huge boys in jerseys were tossing a hockey puck back and forth and right as he glanced their way, one boy missed the catch and the heavy chip sailed through the air, and smashed right through the window of a car. Puck stopped short and felt his skin chill instantly as he stared at the car with the shattered window, the scene was so familiar ….the car…._he'd seen this already_…narrowing his vision he saw that it was indeed Mr. Shuesters' car, the one he'd ridden in the night before. He'd seen all this before…his _hallucination…._

"Son of a…." Puck cursed quietly under his breath and glanced down at his hands as the jocks scattered away from the damaged vehicle. He'd seen this…that vision…what the hell? Did that mean that everything he'd seen would come to pass? Not just the window, but all of it….Shue marrying the red headed counselor? The two of them with kids? And if it did happen, what did that make him? _A fucking fortune teller_? It made Puck's head swim and he quickly jammed his hands in his pockets and walking into the main building into the throng of students.

As he made his way to homeroom (early for one of the first times in his scholastic career) and plopped himself down at a desk, Puck tried to make sense of it. His brain wasn't used to this kind of logical thought and he suddenly wished he paid more attention in biology to know if this kind of thing was actually possible or if he was just crazy. Why hadn't he seen anything when the doctors or nurses examined him last night? They'd touched his hands, granted only briefly to examine him for burns, but still….what had been different that made him see things about Shue? The only thing Puck could come up with was that Mr. Shue had actually grasped his whole hand to pull him up from the ground. Or perhaps it only happened because he'd touched him so soon after the initial shock from the fence? And could electricity really do that to a person? Turn them into a circus freak?

Puck dropped his forehead down onto his folded arms on the desktop and groaned loudly.

"So I hear you tried to off yourself yesterday? I mean I know that I'm awesome but seriously? Death by electric fence, over a breakup?" Lauren's sarcastic tone broke through his thoughts and Puck rolled his head slightly to see his ex-girlfriend take the seat to his right.

She watched him with a sharp stare, but Puck had dated her long enough to know that under her bravado she did actually care. That had been one of the things he'd liked most about her, the fact that she was tough as nails, but loyal to a fault. They had both known that they were never going to be a forever thing, but she had forced him to change his ways some, and most of it for the better. He'd forced her to allow him through the small cracks in her armor and the two had come out of their relationship actually being good friends, which was a first for Puck concerning girls. Now as he returned her hard stare with a wary smile, he wanted to tell her everything, but held back. She would think he was crazy, hell HE even thought this was nuts.

"What can I say? You ruined me for any other woman…" he joked with a wink as he sat back in the chair and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck.

"You're sweet. A liar, but sweet nonetheless." Lauren chuckled before slapping his arm playfully. "Now tell me what really happened."

Puck sighed. "It was a dare. Thought it might help my rep gain a few points back." He braced himself for the sharp retort he felt coming.

But Lauren merely popped a gummy bear in her mouth and waited for him to keep going.

"It was a dumb idea."

"Well hot stuff, a rocket science was never your strong point." She smiled and reached over to place a hand on his shoulder. "I get it, the whole saving your rep thing…but if I hear of you doing something that stupid again…. let's just say that you won't like it." With that she dropped the subject, offering him a grab of gummy bears and then filling him in on the scores of her last wrestling meet.

Lauren's comfortable chatter helped to ease his nerves and he tried to forget about his paranoia and chock it all up to coincidence. Maybe it was just some kind of cosmic hiccup., the universe's way of teaching him to not be so reckless? Maybe it had just been the one time with Shue…maybe …

The rest of the day passed mostly in a blur, Puck despite his best efforts was still slightly paranoid and made an effort not to touch anyone directly if he could help it. His strategy of avoidance and lying to himself worked for most of the day, until just before Glee club was about to start.

He wandered into the choir room to find the usual suspects milling about waiting for their teacher. He dumped himself into a chair near Artie who greeted him with a fist bump and a smile before turning back to the math book in his lap. Nearby Kurt was leaning over the back of a chair chatting with Tina about some kind of fashion nonsense, something about bow ties making a comeback. Puck snorted a little at the comment and tried to cover it up with a fake cough.

Other members of the club filtered in, each little group of faces so familiar now to Puck, almost like family. If you'd told him 2 years ago that by the end of his senior year he would be an integral part of this group, he would have laughed in your face and then probably thrown you into the dumpster. Puck shook his head and chuckled at the thought, things had changed so much since then…HE had changed. No longer the bully, after getting to know the targets of his abuse and spending time with them…seeing how so many of them were still so accepting of him despite all that he'd done. He didn't deserve friendship like that, how they'd allowed him into their club, their safe haven…allowed him to be himself, to sing and to laugh with them. It meant more to him than they would ever know. He glanced around the room as everyone took their seats.

Glee club began fairly routinely, with some vocal warm-ups and then a dance run through, led by Mike Chang and Brittany of course. Puck let his worries slide away as Mike ran the guys through a particularly rough series of jumps and turns in time to the beat. He was so focused on getting the moves right that he nearly missed Rachel's shrill yell.

"Look OUT!" Her loud voice rang out as Finn turned wrong and tripped over the strap of a stray bookbag. His tall form lurched to the side, knocking into the side area where janitors had stacked up desks from a nearby classroom.

For a moment it seemed as if time slowed down and Puck suddenly saw what no one else seemed to…the desks, that big stack of heavy metal swayed and shook….tilting forward….Puck's eyes swung down across the path of the disaster_….Kurt…_

"HEY!" Puck shouted and shot forward to where Hummel stood, reaching out with both hands and grabbing the slender boy by the forearms. Without stopping to think it through, he yanked Kurt against his chest and spun them both to the side where he lost his balance and they both tumbled to the ground. It all happened in less than three seconds, Finn's trip, the desks starting to fall….Puck's movement…..the loud crash of metal on concrete floor just inches from where the two boys had landed.

But something else happened as the desks came down and Puck tumbled to the ground….Pucks' grip on one of Kurt's arms slipped. Kurt's eyes had widened in terror as the desks crashed down behind them and he grabbed Puck's hand with his free arm as they fell, his grip tight and solid.

A flash of white burned blinded Puck's vision…and Puck choked a little as he felt a shock chase over his skin….like the current from the fence yesterday but lighter, not as painful. His blood froze as images suddenly slammed into him full force.

Kurt…._.in tears throwing things into a suitcase…._

Kurt, older now, _wrapped up in someone's arms…._

_a silver band being slipped onto a pale finger_…then even scarier…

_Kurt holding a small bundle in his arms, his blue eyes shining with happy tears…_

then another image…this one so clear and crisp Puck couldn't breathe as it played out in his head….

_Kurt walking down a snowy sidewalk ,carrying one dark haired toddler on his hip, and two older children running around, both with dark hair...one of the children turned around….a little girl with her hair in braids_, Puck's heart stopped as he saw her face as clear as day.

_The child had HIS eyes…she was the spitting image of his younger sister Sarah._


	3. Chapter 3

The images stopped abruptly as Kurt pulled his hand from Pucks and gazed at the pile of desks that separated them from the rest of the group. The whole event had only taken a couple of seconds, the ringing of the loud crash still sounded in Puck's ears but his eyes were glued on Hummel who's normally pale face had gone almost green as he realized that he had been standing directly where all that heavy furniture had fallen. Kurt swung his terrified blue gaze toward Puck and just stared for a second.

"You okay?" Puck heard himself asking, but his voice was rough and choked. He was still reeling from what he'd done and seen.

Kurt nodded as the choir room came back to life behind them, everyone suddenly moving and talking at once. Puck had barely a second to process before they were surrounded by their friends worried faces. Blaine appeared and practically dragged Kurt out of the small space so he could hug him tightly in relief.

As Puck picked himself up, shrugging off Finn's offer of help, he felt a strange tinge of something echo through him as he saw Kurt in his boyfriend's arms. Kurt's eyes found Pucks once more, over Blaine's shoulder, silently he mouthed the words "thank you". Puck nodded once and then quickly turned to move and help Finn and Mike right the fallen desks.

GLEE

GLEE

Glee club finished up without event, and no one seemed to notice Puck's slight unease or the way he was careful not to touch anyone during dance rehearsal. Puck was thankful that no one seemed to be aware of what had passed over him when he'd pulled Kurt out of the way. The images he'd seen plagued him for the remainder of the hour, and even beyond as he made his way out to his truck. Seeing how Kurt had looked_ older_, and that little girl….Puck couldn't shake it.

A quiet high voice cut into his thoughts. "Puck?"

Puck nearly jumped as Kurt suddenly appeared in step beside him. The slender boy was slightly out of breath from jogging to catch him. Kurt clutched the strap of his satchel and eyed Puck curiously.

"Hey Kurt." Puck murmured, trying to play off his surprise.

Kurt walked quietly beside him for a moment until they reached his truck. Puck tried to think of something to say, but all he wanted to ask was wrapped up in those things that he had seen and he just couldn't go there.

"Did you want something?" Puck asked, grimacing as he heard how rude that sounded. He had played the jerk for so long that it was an easy habit to fall back into, albeit a bad one.

Puck watched as Kurt's pale face took on that snotty ice queen expression that he wore most days. But something else flickered in those deep blue eyes, something that Puck had never taken the time or been close enough to see. Under that haughty expression was a layer of hurt and rejection that Kurt struggled to cover up. Puck suddenly felt very small and that image of Kurt crying flashed in his mind, that first image he'd seen. He'd never really seen Hummel cry, but it pained him nonetheless.

"Sorry…not trying to be an ass…just can't help it sometimes." Puck mumbled, jamming his hands in his pockets. It was getting dark as the sun set over the empty lot and the cold winter breeze sliced across his face.

Kurt sighed and fidgeted with his bag strap again. Puck could tell he wanted to say something, so he waited. After a moment in the cold Kurt finally spoke.

"I just wanted….well to thank you again I guess."

Puck smiled a little. "No problem."

Kurt looked down at the shiny tops of his shoes and then muttered something that Puck didn't hear.

"Come again?"

Kurt huffed out a sigh. "Sorry if it embarrassed you or whatever." The pale boys' cheeks reddened, but his expression looked pained.

Puck was lost. "What are you talking about Kurt?"

Kurt sighed and chewed his lip for a moment. "I just mean…well …you looked all freaked out after you got me out of the way and …I ….I know I grabbed your hand when we fell….I just wanted to apologize if it ….you know ….grossed you out."

Puck suddenly felt even smaller and twice the ass. Kurt really thought that he was that big of a homophobe? He ran a hand over the Mohawk he was trying to grow out and looked Kurt right in the eye.

"No….you don't have to apologize. It wasn't about that at all." Puck said clearly.

Kurt's expression shifted then, from hurt to annoyance. "Oh, so I'm supposed to believe that you looking all terrified and jumping away wasn't you freaking out?"

Puck was shocked and stepped a little closer to Kurt, wanting to prove he wasn't the bigot that Kurt has somehow pegged him to be. He remembered the image of seeing Kurt wrapped up in a tender embrace with someone, and feeling glad that he seemed that happy. He wasn't about judging anymore, he'd learned his lesson a long time ago with that garbage.

"Kurt, you've got it wrong. Look, I'm sorry for all the bullying and things that I might have done in the past…before glee club...but really, I'm not like that anymore." Puck tried to defend himself, but Kurt still looked doubtful and irritated.

"Nevermind Puckerman…thanks for earlier, just forget I said anything." Kurt started to turn away.

Something inside Puck shifted and turned. Puck had the sudden rush of feeling that he needed to fix this. The image of the little girl, of Kurt with the children…. something inside him seemed to scream out that if that scenario was to ever happen, he needed to fix what was happening here. Puck asked himself why he cared about Kurt's supposed future, and he didn't' have a clear answer, but one thing he knew. Kurt had seemed so happy in that image…and he wasn't about to deny anyone that chance.

"Hold up!" Puck jumped forward to grab the back of Kurt's shoulder strap, tugging on it so Kurt stopped in his tracks.

"What?"

Puck fumbled for words, rambling. "Listen…I wasn't freaked out because of you …the way we were close….it was something else. I'm not that big of a jerk anymore okay? I mean, I 'm still a badass and all, but I don't think that hating on people is cool anymore. Especially not you…" Puck sucked in a breath, not quiet knowing where the honesty came from.

Kurt looked over his shoulder with a quizzical expression. "Why not me Puck? What are you talking about?"

Puck sighed and continued. "Look, I know I was a jerk to you before glee club. But I don't think like that anymore. You're a good guy Kurt, and you've put up with so much more crap than other people have to deal with. It sucked when you were at Dalton, and I'm glad you came back." Puck had never been this honest with anyone, ever. And he didn't quite understand what was bringing it out now. He only hoped he wouldn't live to regret it. Kurt turned slightly, his head cocked as he stared like he was trying to judge Puck's confession for merit.

Puck hesitated for a second before deciding that he'd done enough damage already, he might as well just finish himself off.

"And for the record….touching you doesn't gross me out." Going on instinct Puck forgot about the consequence of touching Kurt and reached out to brush his hand across one of Kurt's flawless cheekbones.

Kurt's eyes widened in shock and his cheeks flushed bright pink, but as Puck's fingertips connected with Kurts' skin, the familiar shock burned over him. Puck fought the urge to yank his hand away and a few brief images slammed into him.

_Kurt crying over that suitcase again..._

_A door slamming….Kurt running….._

_ Burt Hummel….in the hospital again….Kurt at his bedside…._

Puck choked to hold on to the connection even though the current spiking through his veins was beginning to burn harder and hotter.

_….Kurt kneeling in front of a small child, with shiny black curls….buttoning up the front of her red wool coat ….smiling and looking happier than Puck had ever seen him…._

Kurt stepped back then, just enough to move away from Puck's touch and the images faded out. Puck blinked and focused himself back on Kurt's face, those wide blue eyes turning darker and churning with an emotion that Puck could not identify. Neither said anything for a moment and Puck was terrified that Kurt could tell that he was turning into some kind of X-man freak, and not the cool kind like Wolverine.

Finally Kurt spoke, his breathy voice cutting into the weighted silence.

"You made your point…"

Puck tried to swallow over the lump in his throat, but no words came so he simply nodded.

"I'm going to go…thank you again for …well…for earlier." Kurt stammered and then turned on his heel and walked quickly to his car. Puck watched him go, his black scarf fluttering behind him and leaned back against the side of his truck.

He tried to process, but was still at a loss for how all this was possible. This time the images had been clearer, more precise. And that child…it was the same little girl he's seen before, but she'd been younger this time, not more than four years old. Her hair was the same color as his, but curly like Sarah's. The resemblance to his sister at that age was still uncanny. He thought about Beth, and how much she was growing to resemble Quinn, his chest felt tight for a second as it always did when he thought about his daughter. He brought up the image of the little girl again….wanting a name to call her in his head but having nothing.

As he watched Kurt's car pull from the lot, Puck sighed. He had to know who that child was, had to see this through.

That was going to mean getting closer to Kurt.


End file.
